Correction of Mistakes (Instructor)
Learning to land means learning to correct for mistakes. Specific problem situations should be created during the landing training period. Make the approach deliberately high and have the student dive for the runway to demonstrate the effect of flaps, power and airspeed on the approach. Then go around. Make the approach deliberately low and show how the application of full power while holding a constant airspeed to re-intercept the proper glide slope is the best solution. Demonstrate how airspeed changes can adversely affect the visual perception of the glide slope. Show how the close in downwind caused by a crosswind so shortens the base leg as to lead to the dangerous over-banking of the infamous 'downwind turn. Simulate engine failure on final with full flaps. Show how flap removal and a constant airspeed makes it possible to make the runway. When control is lost during landings reflexive "steering" as with an automobile exacerbates the problem. Go around before the situation gets to this point.

Aircraft Seating
What and how well a pilot sees outside and inside the cockpit is determined by cockpit design, flight configuration, and by the variability of the seat itself. How you see from the cockpit is affected by the direction and distance of your eyes from the wheels; the line where the cowling cuts off everything below, and the pitch angle used in approach, flare and touchdown. As the pilot you want to maintain a consistent eye reference position in the cockpit. The more consistent your cockpit-cutoff angle the sooner the student will recognize the landing flare and touchdown attitude. Not expecting the runway to disappear will cause a student to reduce pitch and 'duck down' to the runway. This can cause a pilot to land short of the runway.

Whenever a pilot has perceptual problems from the cockpit he is liable to visual illusions. The more poor the visual ability the more likely that illusions will occur. A wider than usual runway will cause a pilot to perceive being lower than he is. The result is a high flare. A narrow runway will give the perception of being too high and cause a low flare or premature contact with the runway. The lack of visual references will also give the illusion of being too high.

Aside from these physical factors we have the visual acuity of the pilot which determines how well contrasts in lighting exist. any visible moisture will diffuse light and decrease the contrast as well as light. Without contrast you cannot either identify objects or give height distinctions effectively. With practice we can learn to use the approach lights, runway lights and markings for determining height above touchdown. Your ability to perceive vertical height above the runway and the proper flight slope reduces in poor visual conditions. Runway alignment becomes an illusion and may cause over-correction and even loss of control.

On Impatience
Being a pilot teaches one to deal with frustrations. I was on an airliner where we were number 18 for takeoff. The Pilot treated the situation honestly by keeping track of our progress. There is no sense in trying to do something about something that is beyond human control. A pilot must learn to expect delays, mechanical failure, weather below minimums, and scheduling problems. There is no place for road rage in flying.

Dealing with the problems that cause delays is a measure of pilot maturity. When flying always arrive early enough to allow for unanticipated delays. Just getting fuel can take 45 minutes. Fouled plugs can take from three minutes to an hour. A pilot must learn to live with mechanical delays such as a dead battery, vapor lock, low tires, or low shocks. Any one of these means a departure delay necessary to get an airworthy aircraft.

Social pressures on the pilot are a problem that will always exist. Non-pilots have no appreciation nor understanding of the multitude of hazards extant in flying. Weather can be and is usually a dramatic variable influencing a pilots hurry-up syndrome.

Darkness, or the approach of darkness for the non-proficient at night, is a terrifying hurry-up situation. Worse, darkness always arrives faster and sooner than expected. The problem is accentuated when the pilot is without the necessary tools for flying in the dark.

Passenger illness becomes a hurry-up unless you have pre-planned for the eventuality. I like to bring a large heavy-duty garbage bag being enough to cover the whole body. Then they can get as sick as they want for as long as they want. Eating ginger before seems to reduce the symptoms.

The most insidious of all flying delays comes through the loss of proficiency. All pilots will experience poor landing approaches that require a go-around. Every pilot must acquire and retain an extra level of proficiency beyond what personal limits find necessary. The less frequently you fly the higher must be your proficiency margins. You will lose timing first. You will fail to time your rotation, trim movements, power changes, radio changes, and even noting the time. The last thing you lose is aircraft control at cruise speed. You will lose precision in holding altitudes and headings. Your turns will lose and gain altitude. You lose precision in power applications.

The 'trepidation/concerns' felt during landings, stalls, or low level operations can be overcome only with repeated training and exposure. In the beginning, recognition of the problem as one of stress perception. This recognition awareness means that removal of the problem will occur under appropriate instruction and improved sensitivity to the available cues during the landing procedure. During landing, the aircraft slows and there is a corresponding decrease in the effect of any crosswind.

Pilots will feel a need to hurry when it is their 'job' to be on time. The greatest flex in time exists in the pre-flight and taxi times. My wife and I recently flew on a Southwest flight that was two hours late because of a hydraulic failure on the scheduled aircraft. Passengers were literally required to run down the boarding ramp. The push-back was accomplished while the passenger briefing was completed in record time. The flight from Reno to OAK was made in 3l minutes, liftoff to touchdown. The taxi speed at OAK could not have been less than 60 mph. I just wonder how many errors of omission and commission occurred on that flight? How many items did the pilots fail to do or how many of the items were done in the wrong way.

Why Poor Landings?
Of late there have been a number of students who have indicated that just prior to the checkride that they begin to have difficulty making landings. There are many extraneous factors beyond the basics of airspeed, configuration, and attitude that can cause sudden loss of landing skill. I will try to come up with a few and hope that others will fill out the picture from their experience by posting on rec.aviation.student.

Begin with the pilot who is supposed to be 80+% responsible for all problems. Stress is a factor that can be very insidious in its ability to affect performance both physical and mental. A certain amount of stress is good but the individual has no way of knowing when the stress cup runneth over. Fatigue, sleep depravation, nutrition, and chemicals can have effects on both reaction and anticipation flight performance. As often as not it is an unasked question that is the source of a problem. An unasked question can be a matter of knowledge, emotion, or just personality. If your landings are not what they should be, begin your search for reasons by checking yourself out. Begin by asking questions of yourself and your instructor.

The set up for your arrival to a runway makes considerable difference in the adjustments you must make. The standard 45 degree to downwind entry gives you the best opportunity to anticipate any adjustments that may be required. The straight-in requires a higher degree of approach slope perception than other landings that keep you closer to the runway. There are more adjustments to being high on the glide slope than when low. High means you can put in maximum flaps for conditions, reduce power, and even slow-up. Full power is the best universal correction for being low. Knowing how to get to there from here even in the pattern is a skill that comes easily to some but must be acquired in steps by most.

You must become familiar with reading wind directions and velocities. Begin by comparing your estimate with the ATIS or AWOS wind. After a few tries you will get pretty close. Now look to the windsock and note how it is performing. Relate the stiffness of the windsock to wind velocity but become familiar with the differences that exist since there are windsocks designed to become stiff at different velocities. Reading the wind effects on your aircraft is an essential skill. Low level drift effects in light winds are the hardest for students to detect and correct.  Work on 'seeing' the wind.

The variables of weather can have dramatic effects on even the most experienced pilot. The first hot day of summer shows many a winter pilot how quickly a flaring plane can run out of ground effect. The calm wind often makes ATC keep a noise abatement runway in use often with a light tailwind. On such occasions everyone lands long, at least on the first try. The strong wind right down the runway over 15 knots require that the pilot make many anticipating adjustments on the downwind, base and final. Failure to stay close and high will require full power to make interception of the glide slope possible. Don't be concerned about being high in such a wind. Use the wind; don't let the wind use you.

The crosswind requires that the pilot make an initial estimate as to how he plans to configure the aircraft and fly the pattern.. Use the minimum flaps for the wind and your experience. The less flaps the easier will be a go-around. As in all landings, the go-around should be the first option when things are not going well. Basic skills for the crosswind, in addition to airspeed and configuration , are the Dutch roll and side slips. Always fly a crabbed heading into the wind to achieve a much wider downwind any time the crosswind is blowing you toward the runway. Failure to do so means that you will be exposing yourself to illusions conducive to the stall-spin accident. 

If you are unable to keep the nose parallel with the runway using the rudder on final, you have winds that have exceeded the crosswind rudder control required. You have the option of increasing the approach speed or power so as to improve rudder authority. The side slip is used to keep the aircraft aligned with the extended centerline of the runway. Basic skill is the Dutch roll.

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